Now and Forever
by tolkienlover
Summary: The stars were his whole world. And suddenly, after a changed perspective on his life and a night beneath the full moon, he begins to wonder if perhaps the stars hung themselves in her eyes because, by the Goddess, did they belong there. (Wizard X Hikari; Spoilers for Harvest Moon: Animal Parade; Rated T for romance)
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Okay, guys, I have FINALLY gotten around to starting my first long-term fanfic...Super excited to show you all what I have in store, and I hope you love it as much as I do! Thanks!

This chapter is setting up for the entire story...tehehe. Hikari and Wizard are in the next one, don't worrry... :)

**Spoilers for Harvest Moon: Animal Parade !**

_And for anyone who doesn't know, _Sephia_ is the real name of the Harvest Goddess :)_

**Disclaimer:** This entire fanfiction is based upon a game that is certainly not mine. All rights for the characters and places and such go to their rightful owners.

* * *

_Prologue_

* * *

_She was loved._

The Harvest Goddess knew this—she knew that her people loved her—they worshipped her and cared for her and thought of her when they needed her help. And her sprites, the very ones whom would grovel at her feet if she only said the words and her many priests scattered across the globe, praying that one day they would earn themselves but a glance of her beauty; they all treated her with respect and the height of propriety. Yet, it wasn't enough.

She was lonely. It was childish—foolish, really—for her to think so, because she was a Goddess after all and it wasn't exactly ideal to have visitors knocking at every chance they had to take her attention away from what really mattered. Sure, she had the Harvest King when he bid her a hello every few centuries or so, but when it came to friends, when it came for someone who cared only for her at every moment possible, there was no one. And that wasn't good enough.

Sephia's idea was even more unreasonable than her thinking was, truly. Yet, the more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her. Years passed, trees grew old, people died—the idea in her heart grew frantically in her thoughts, like a snowball, growing in size and priority the more she thought upon it. It was the spring of 1974 that she decided to act.

She was a Goddess—she could _create_ life—so why not create a companion for herself? It was just one mortal; surely, just one tiny human wouldn't cause that much harm. A person for her to speak with as a friend, not a sprite that didn't understand; their pure hearts hid them from the troubles of the world, and instead of speaking of the troubles she had in her heart, she spoke only spoke of freedom and love and peace. They couldn't take anything more than that. The Goddess was tired, tired of living forever without a friend. So, finally, she decided to change it.

The day started brightly. Sunlight filtered in past the evergreens around her pond, reflecting off the rippling water that glistened in response. The turtles and fish inside reveled in their newfound sunshine, soaking in as much as they could manage. The Goddess began by pressing her fingers to the roots of her hair; there, she pulled at the very tip of root. A sole strand of hair fell from her head and landed in her hands, blowing slightly from the quiet breeze.

Her hair glowed with beauty and youth and this small piece was no different. It gleamed in the light of the sun and practically glowed in the forces of the lives around it. The world was succeeding, and that only made the Goddess even stronger, even younger, and even more breathtaking. It was no surprise, then, that what resulted that day was stunning.

Sephia took a tip of the pulled hair strand into each of her hands and stretched it thin, pulling it so it was strained but not enough to snap it. The sprites gathered around her, lending her even more strength, as if she needed it. She radiated power at that moment, and not a soul would disagree as waves of pure strength and grace rolled off of her in magnificent stretches of yellow and gold.

With a careful touch, the Goddess blew a bit of breath against the strand of hair, and it instantly lit up in a golden color—it shimmered and shook, but Sephia didn't falter. Her eyes closed and her mouth began to move, so quickly that to a human, her mouth may not have appeared to of moved at all. Longer and more complex spells poured from her mouth and her voice made them sound like poems, matching the rhythm of the earth, of the sun, of the sky in her tone. The strand of hair extended, growing longer, and the Goddess let go, letting it float in the air without any assistance.

This was where the sprites came in—they chanted, shaking their fists, and from them, the powers of the elements surrounded the hair, enclosing it in a burst of color and light. The Harvest Goddess' spells grew louder and more pronounced, and suddenly, the clearing was shaking with the power of the deity, her entire being trembling with the intensity of the spell. The trees shook, the leaves rustled; animals in the shadows that had watched in curiosity disappeared into their homes, shaking out their tails before disappearing back into the forest. A burst of light covered it all entirely, and then, there was nothing.

No sound, no sight—the Goddess stood, awaiting her creation, tense with anticipation. When the light cleared and the clearing became visible once again, the sound stayed away. Nothing made a noise, not even the heavy breathing of the sprites or the baby birds hiding in the tips of the treetops, resting in nests made of hay.

There, in the center of the plush grass before the pond at Sephia's feet, laid a baby, its head tilted back on a pillow of green, completely open to the nature of the world. Tufts of dark, emerald hair were sprouted at its head and reflected the Goddess' nearly exactly, like a complete replica. The baby's skin was like porcelain, white and creamy and smooth against the dark of the grass, and where there should have been closed eyelids, there were wide and curious eyes, glancing about as though the child could possibly be aware of what had just occurred.

The Goddess reached out swiftly, taking the child into her arms and looking happily down at her, face bright with exhilaration. Her hand skimmed the side of the baby's face and the child opened its small mouth to yawn before looking up at Sephia with surprise. Her eyes were a darker shade than her "mother's"; darker emerald, tinted with flecks of black and rimmed entirely with a ring of gold.

"My child," the deity whispered and her voice was like the wind against the trees—quiet and soft and gentle—and her face was still lit with a smile; "Created from my own being, brought to life from the lives of the forest, desired and worshipped by all. My darling, you are but a lovely child, are you not? So similar to a flower," she said, and she watched the still child with awed eyes, "so very small, so delicate. I've quite forgotten how fragile mortal children are. Yet, you my dearest daughter, you shall be beloved by them all. You shall be treasured by all. You shall be _loved."_

The girl yawned again, and her eyes blinked sleepily at her mother before shutting tightly, her arms closing in around her sides. She was soothed asleep by the sounds of the forest—the rustling of the trees, the slight bubble of the pond, the touch of wind to the grass—as she would be for many years to come.

* * *

The Goddess found beauty in her child.

Though the years passed swiftly in the eyes of a deity, time slowed enough for her to watch her daughter grow and flourish, to watch her as she was fed by the creatures of the forest and fell asleep in her mother's arms, completely content to lay and watch the stars in the sky. It was odd, of course, to have a child around, but Sephia never minded; she loved her more than any of the other mortals she had helped create upon this Earth and didn't mind her at all, not even when she tripped and startled the water in her pond, or when she was chasing all of the rabbits from the clearing, yelling and shouting in joy.

Her darling Rosalind, so small yet so graceful, was like a dream—one that Sephia should have thought of sooner. Why hadn't she done this before? The dark thought slipped from her mind as she watched Rosalind giggle in delight at a bird that was pecking quietly at her hair, pulling the flowers that the Goddess had woven there out and onto the ground. The girl squealed and took off running, and it was then that the deity smiled, a pure and prideful smile that reached her eyes.

The child was different than an average mortal. She had been created with care, and thus, had qualities that a usual human would not. Like her hair, a dark shade of emerald green that fell around her face, framing her face in lightened curls and falling much past her waist, though she was only four or five years in a human's count. She grew _fast_; even Sephia, who had only watched children from afar, knew that her daughter was growing beyond the average speed of a human. Her face was slimming, eyes narrowing, and her stride was much more graceful than a young girl's should have been.

But to the Harvest Goddess, she was beauty in its most unrefined form.

Rosalind was named for a 'lovely flower', her limbs small and growing like budding leaves of a rose, thorn-less and free. She had no cares and no regrets and was well-beyond knowing that she wasn't living a normal life. The girl didn't know that her mother was a Goddess—that she was different, odd, _strange_. She only knew that she loved her and they were a family, her and her mother and their sprites, and together they would stay in the clearing forever, together.

She looked up from where she was doting on the small bird that-in shame-had picked up a single lily from the grass and rewoven it into her hair, at her mother, who was watching her with affectionate eyes, a warm smile pulling at her mouth. Rosalind waved her arms in the air, shooing the bird from her hair, and grinned at her mother, who gave her a nod in greeting.

The Goddess would have been content for things to remain that way forever.

* * *

It didn't take long for the dark thoughts to creep in.

The Goddess knew her daughter was different, that she was strange. But it wasn't until Rosalind glanced out at the worn path leading to her mother's tree with a wanting gaze, her face filled with confusion and a desire, did Sephia consider what was soon to come. It had never occurred to her that her Rose would want to _leave_, that she wouldn't be content here forever. It had never made sense to her, she supposed, but Rosalind was just a young girl. She was only ten years of age. It wasn't as though she was ready to be making decisions of her own.

"Rose?" Sephia said softly, calling to her daughter with a bit of force behind her words.

Rosalind spun around on her heels, twisting so the white dress, that had been sewn to the best ability of the fluttering sprites, twirled around her in a simple swirl, and gave her mother a quiet smile.

"I was just looking, Mother," she said, and she sounded much older than a ten-year-old—but that was the end of that and she skipped from the entrance back to her mother's feet to continue on with the flower rope she had been crafting under the teachings of the local birds.

Sephia nearly sighed in relief.

* * *

"Are we ever going to go beyond the trees, Mother? Perhaps one day…" Rose was standing once more at the edge of the tree line, her hands clasped at her chest and her face thin and rosy.

She was sixteen, old enough to be considered a young adult in the world of mortals, but to Sephia, she was still the young and delicate girl, the one who brought her white flowers to weave into her braid and smiled at the sun that peaked through the trees.

Sephia also knew that she was lying to herself.

Rosalind was getting old…and growing suspicious of why her mother kept her here. She knew things—the girl wasn't unintelligent—about the world and how it worked; she didn't quite understand the mannerisms or the social classes of the earth, or the people that inhabited it, but she surely knew that she wasn't a part of it. She knew that she wasn't where she belonged, wasn't where she should be.

The Goddess refused to let her leave, of course. The daughter of the Goddess couldn't just get up and run about; that would surely cause suspicion, and it took all Sephia could do to keep her within the borders of the evergreens. Rosalind didn't want to be confined, but she agreed to her mother's requests. She was, after all, just a girl.

She was a _beautiful_ girl, with eyes like sage leaves and hair that fell far past her waist, tickling at the backs of her knees. Her face had thinned out, leaving her with exposed cheekbones and twinkling expressions, though her eyes had begun to lose the sparkle they once had, their curiosity burning ever brighter.

And Sephia knew that Rosalind deserved what she wanted, but could never be given it, not now. She opened her mouth to tell the girl to move away from the trees, but something stopped her.

The Goddess gasped and quickly waved her arms in the direction of the forest, her face growing pale.

"Rosalind, _hide!_"

The girl's eyes widened significantly, stretching to reflect the green of the grass in their hue before she whirled to her right, taking off running to the trees and disappearing into the branches. She watched ever-carefully from behind the leaves of a tree, hidden in the foliage.

A young boy then appeared from the edge of the path, panting as though he had run a mile, his face white and mouth set in frown. He looked to be around Rose's age, with dark, shaggy hair falling in waves over his face and caramel eyes that were dull and bleak with false hope.

The Goddess disappeared into her tree, fading away before he could catch sight of her, just as the boy cast his gaze to the pond. He walked with a determined face, though he looked weary, broken—he was sweating in the heat of the summer and was surprisingly quiet as he approached the Goddess tree.

When he reached the roots of the tree, where Rosalind often slept beneath the stars of the summertime sky—able to point out each constellation with ease, if she might add—the boy fell to the ground, his face falling into a state of hopelessness; his eyes then filled with tears and he looked to the ground.

"Harvest Goddess," he said, and the sound of his voice came as a shock to Rosalind, whom had never heard another person speak, "Please, you _must _hear me, right? You've got to help me." The tears in his eyes trickled lightly against his skin as they fell into the dirt. _Plop, plop, plop. _"My mum…she's deathly ill. Pops says she hardly has another day in her and…and that there's nothing we can do 'bout it, but _you_, maybe you can do something. You can save her, can't you?"

His voice was full of desperation, and Rosalind felt as though her heart would break right then and there, her eyes catching tears as though she was sharing in his grief. Her mother, though, watched with a calm expression from the shadows of her tree, hidden to the boy, without the slightest hint of emotion other than the twinge of guilt tucked away in her eyes. She knew exactly who he spoke of—his mother, Catherine, had lived in the village since she was a young girl. She had often visited the Harvest pond in hopes of seeing the Goddess, though Sephia had never revealed herself.

It was quiet for a moment, only the wind in the trees whistling through the air. The boy shook his head, likely in frustration, and clenched his fists together. It seemed as though he was about to shout, as though he would _explode…_

"Maybe I can help you."

The boy's head snapped up and his eyebrows shot up into his air. He looked around for a moment, searching, before speaking in a slow voice. "Where are you? _Who_ are you?"

Rosalind laughed and the sound was similar to windchimes. It was nice, she decided, to speak with another human. "In the trees, silly boy," she replied, and moved from her place in the trees to another, dancing through the leaves and making them rustle against one another, "Where else would I be?"

He didn't reply, only watched around him cautiously, carefully.

And Sephia watched in horror.

Rosalind had _known_ never to speak to a human. She knew that those who came to visit the pond came in desperation and need and that she was never supposed to speak to them, no matter what their circumstance. She _knew _that her mother was angry, _furious_, with her right now, and yet she was smiling, watching the boy with coy eyes and a slight grin.

"You don't have to be afraid, you know," Rose offered, and she glided from behind her tree to the one beside it, "I won't hurt you."

"Then why don't you show yourself and prove it?"

Rosalind froze for a moment, shooting at glance at her already horrified mother, before biting her lip in indecision. This may be her only chance.

Carefully, hesitantly—Rosalind wasn't sure how boys reacted to girls stepping out from behind trees—the girl moved from behind her tree, stepping into the light of sun in a slow movement. The boy instantly turned to face her and his face fell slack, awed. She was tall and glorious, breathtaking in the sunlight that glistened off her skin.

Neither of them moved for a moment, but he was the one who did first, urging his mouth to move. "H-hello," he said, and she giggled into her hand, "The name's…Beckham."

"Rosalind," she replied, and her face stretched further into a grin. "I've never met a human boy before! Actually, you're the first person, other than my mother, that I've met."

"You've never met anyone else? Not even your dad?"

"Dad?" Rose asked, and her face screwed up in confusion, "What's that?"

Beckham shook his hair out of his face and wiped the tears from his eyes, straightening out to his full height. "You don't know who your Pops is?"

"I don't believe so." She poked her tongue into her cheek and sighed. "Mother hasn't told me about those, yet."

Sephia watched the two interact in fury, her hands clenched against her sides. She was a Goddess—self-control had always been one of her strengths—and yet, she was furious that her daughter dared to speak to this boy, to this mere _mortal_. It was then that it hit her.

She had created Rosalind for one purpose: friendship, companionship—someone to share in her troubles. What she realized, however, was that she had no intent of sharing her troubles with her daughter. No, she had none; in fact, Sephia realized that she wanted to _shield_ Rose, like a dragon from its hoard; she wanted to keep her safe.

So this is why she had never created a companion.

Because she grew to care for her, because she became so blinded by her love for the child that she didn't realize what a hazard it was—Rosalind was a mortal, she was human, and she should be allowed to act human, though on the contrary, she was anything from normal. She wanted to hide her away in her tree and never let her leave, though it was hardly humane. She wanted to be _selfish_. And that is simply something Goddesses are not.

* * *

Sephia let her daughter keep her new found friend.

It only seemed fair that the girl have a companion too, one of her own kind, of her own species. It wasn't fair, however, when her daughter came to her, hands locked with the boy, with a determined expression.

"Mother! Mother, please, come out and listen to me!"

It appeared as though she had no choice.

The Goddess appeared, shining hair and all, with a neutral expression, though the face of her daughter's friend was anything but neutral. "Rose?" she said simply, without emotion, without shame.

"You know that I don't belong here."

"Yes."

Rosalind obviously hadn't expected that response—she flinched and her hand tightened on Beckham's. "Then why do you keep me here? Why not…why not…allow..." The girl struggled for words, fishing in the air for something that she couldn't find. Her friend remained silent, though his face was red and he was highly shocked in the eyes.

"You wish to leave." Sephia felt her heart snap into two, like she had personally reached into her own chest and torn it in two. "You wish to leave me and go with him."

Her daughter was quiet for a moment before she nodded. "Yes, mother. I…I feel as though…as though I am a lost bird. I am struggling against the winds of your life and the chance of breathing the air of a fresh life, the one I belong to, the one where I should be. And…I plan on going there. With Beckham."

Sephia didn't move. Her mind was twisting with rage, with envy, with grief. This boy had stolen her daughter from her, taken her heart, twisted her mind—she was gone, lost to the wind of the mortal life, strung along by the height of a promising new place and a promising new home. And the worst part, the part that crushed the Goddess' soul, was that she knew it was coming.

Rosalind was too curious, too rebellious—she needed to be free to explore and to learn and to love; the girl needed a life where she could _be _loved, somewhere beyond the trees of the pond. Somewhere she belonged.

"You know, then, what I must do."

Rose's eyes widened, but her mother did not pause.

"If you leave here, your course will change," Sephia kept her eyes locked with the girl's, a mirror of her own, dark and gold and green; "You will be an explorer at first, and then a friend, and then a lover. Your heart will mix with this boy's, and it will grow, and your children shall be born and you shall age. You shall have a different life, one beyond my reach, one beyond…far beyond where I can reach you. You will be forbidden to return and—" She nearly choked on her next words. "Your memory shall be lost."

"You mean—"

"I mean that you will have no recollection of me, My Rose," she said, and her eyes became soft, her mouth faded into a smile, "I will have to erase your memories, one by one, and replace them with something that is false. None can know of my existence, and none can know of yours. If you leave here…"

Rosalind looked to Beckham, who was watching her with soft eyes, his mouth turned up in the corner, his hand still tight around hers. Who was she, to turn down a life of happiness with the boy she loved and to forget her childhood amongst the trees? Who was she, to forget her mother and her life and her love, only to live with her soul-mate, to find what was right for her?

The girl took a deep breath and let go of Beckham's hand before stepping forward to wrap her arms around her mother's neck and held her tight. "Then this is farewell, Mother."

Sephia had known her answer before it was spoken.

As soon as Rose embraced her, the change occurred. The green of her hair instantly began to grow dark; beginning at the roots, it darkened to a lighter shade of brown, spreading from the top to the tips, washing out every trace of green that had ever been. Rosalind cried out in surprise and stepped back from her mother, but it was too late. Her skin changed, growing slightly darker as though she had lived in the sun instead of the trees, and her clothes morphed into something slightly less medieval into something more modern, with sleeves and a longer dress-line. And her eyes, the ones that Sephia swore held the stars and mirrored hers with an exact replica, were filled with a darkened hazel; almost like ink, it oozed into her iris until they were completely brown. Only the rim of gold around her pupil remained.

Sephia felt her heart constrict, and knew that if she was able to cry that tears would have leaked from her eyes. Rosalind _was_ crying, calling something to her mother, but the Goddess was beyond hearing it.

"Be safe, my daughter," she said, and Rosalind began to cry harder, shaking her head, wailing—her and the boy both were shrouded in a heavy light, erupting from their skin like the sun. The deity gave her daughter one last soft smile before whispering into the wind.

"Be loved, my dearest."

With a flick of the wrist, her daughter and her lover were gone.

And she was alone once more.


	2. Odd

_a/n: it gets better soon, I promise ;)_

_enjoy!_

* * *

_Chapter 1_

_Hikari's POV_

* * *

_"__Harvest Goddess, this is Hikari! She has a pure heart, just like you asked for!"_

_Hikari shuffled onto her left foot, hiding her hands behind her back and letting the blush of her face spread to her cheeks. Finn flew all around her, buzzing excitedly, his face stretched into the biggest smile that could possibly fit onto a small sprites body; he was, after all, the size of a doll—smiles don't always come in the biggest sizes on dolls but his appeared to be quite the grin._

_When the Goddess appeared, her reaction wasn't anything like Hikari expected. _

_She was beautiful, of course, with flowing hair and sparkling eyes, but as soon as she spotted Hikari, her eyes widened and she seemed at a loss for words, like the girl had personally shoved something down her throat to keep her from speaking. The farmer's eyebrows furrowed deeply, and she frowned, looking to Finn for reassurance. He was watching the Goddess with just as much confusion. _

_ "__Look, Harvest Goddess! I brought her for you! She's who you wanted, right?"_

_The Goddess snapped her gaze away from Hikari to look at Finn with tired eyes. "Oh, yes, yes. Well done, Finn, she will do." When she looked back to Hikari, however, her face was back under control, her emotions hidden. It was like it had never happened, other than the slight glint in her eyes, a glint of something odd…_

Hikari shook her head, violently, and sighed, trying to clear her head of the flashback that had startled her out of nowhere. She seemed to be getting that daydream more often than not; her meeting with the Goddess had been a strange one, no doubt, but then again, she hadn't really expected it to be a normal introduction. "Hello, I'm Hikari" seemed a bit comical for that moment, but she certainly didn't have any other plans. It was probably for the best that Finn had done most of the talking for her.

Finn had ambushed her the minute she had arrived in Castanet, exclaiming about the Goddess and her dying tree and the sprites—he had nearly given the girl a heart-attack, if anything—but she had come to love him something fiercely; he had looked out for her when no one else had, and if it counted for anything, he had tried his best to lend her some help from time to time. He was almost like her own personal friend-in-a-box, easy to carry and always there, though he was without a box, and was more of a constant companion than an optional friend. All the same, she loved him and he loved her and that was all that mattered.

Castanet had treated Hikari fairly well, with welcoming gifts and warming smiles. There were the exceptions, of course, but Hikari found that she loved this place nonetheless. It was warm and peaceful and perfect for a graduate with nothing but the wind to take her. Her mother and father were farmers, so it seemed only reasonable that she take up a sickle and set out to start her own. Farms had always been where she had felt most at home, and if that was how she felt, then so be it.

After meeting the Goddess, Hikari had been sent off to search for the five bells of Castanet, though it felt more like a wild goose chase than an actual search. She was trying, though; the girl put her all into the searching, at least, when she wasn't trying to maintain a healthy relationship with residents and attempting to keep something alive on her farm. Of course, she did make time to keep animals in her barn, or to occasionally slip out to watch the stars when the sun set behind the mountains, fading into a delicate pink and disappearing altogether. The stars were her escapes; they put her life behind her and let her wander into their mysterious colors, sheltering her from all that try and interrupt. Her head was always in the clouds, always a dreamer.

Perhaps that was why her farm wasn't exactly the greatest. Hikari had sworn that she knew how to grow something, but it seemed that all of her efforts ended in shame. Everything she had tried to grow was either overwatered, underwatered, or just dead. Hikari blamed it on the soil, but she had already rung the yellow bell that was supposed to increase its quality and there had been no change…Yet, she still had two more bells to go, and perhaps then she would have some results. Or, perhaps just a single thing to harvest at the end of the season.

With one cow and a chicken, she managed to make just enough to keep herself up and going and able to afford a cup of coffee in the mornings. Luna swore the girl was going to pick up the scent of creamer and Splenda permanently, but Hikari just laughed and dismissed it with her hand, ignoring her friend's protests and continuing with her morning ritual. It was what kept her sane, half of the time.

Three bells down and two more to go, Hikari was determined to help the island return to its former glory. The next bell, though, had turned into a bigger problem than she had thought it would be, requiring some extra assistance that she didn't think she'd need. The green bell was rumored to be deep inside Fugue Forest under the Witch's care; yet, when Hikari had gone there, the Witch was gone and only a very _pink_ and very _persistent _frog had been left in her stead.

The girl had tried again the next day, and again the next, until finally, it had been an entire week of her trampling through the forest to reach the hut that she already knew was empty, and it was utterly frustrating. Finn figured that he would let her try a few more times, and on the seventh night, he finally told her about the Wizard living in town. "Maybe he can help us," Finn had said, and Hikari had poked her tongue out at him.

"You could have said so before," she had replied as she pulled a leaf from her hair, "It may have saved me quite a few tramples through the forest!"

So that was where it left them, standing in front of the Wizard's dark, wooden door, breath bated in anticipation. She wasn't sure what to expect; not many of the townsfolk knew the Wizard, and many of them were very ambivalent on him entirely, like they didn't care. He was just someone who lived in town, and nothing more and nothing less. It was odd. Many people did go to him for fortunes, though, and that was one thing Hikari counted on. Perhaps if she could just speak to him about something familiar before starting right into the Witch mess…

She was most nervous about the fact that Finn had ditched her last minute, exclaiming about the Goddess and first impressions. "I bet he could see me, Hikari! Would you really want to meet someone like that?" She had protested profusely, but he had flown off into the night, disappearing over the rooftops with ease.

Hikari supposed it was now or never.

With a gentle hand, Hikari rapped quietly on the door, brushing her knuckles over the wood. It sounded a bit like it had resounded through the entire town, much less the house—it was eerily quiet out tonight, just a bit past twelve, with the waves against the shore the only sound that the night called for. There wasn't a noise from inside the house either, not until the door pulled open and a man stood in the doorway.

He wasn't at all what she had expected; perhaps a man with a grey beard and a pointed hat? But no, he wasn't like that at all, for he lacked both a beard and a hat, and appeared to be very young; he was left with very dark silvery-blonde hair that was reflected in the light of the moon. His skin was tanned, his frame long and narrow, and his eyes were partially concealed—one halfway hidden behind a swoop of his hair, a dark gold, while the other reflected back at her, emerald green. For a wizard, he was extremely handsome. He blinked at her, once, sleepily.

"Can I…help you?"

His voice took her off guard. Sure, she thought, he was very handsome and she should have expected a…attractive voice, but his sent a shiver down her spine, raspy and low and sleepy. The lapse in his speech did give her the urge to quirk an eyebrow, though.

"Oh, ah, I'm Hikari," she offered, and she shifted her weight to her right foot, "I'm the new farmer in town. I was hoping that you may know something about where the Witch has gone?"

He blinked at her again, except this time, his expression was slightly more amused. He was still stoic, but amusement tugged at his mouth and his eyes brightened a bit. "The…Witch?"

"Mhmm, she's, uh, been gone for awhile, and I was hoping…well, maybe…"

"Was there…by chance…a frog?"

Hikari stared at him.

"A little pink one, yeah," she said, and he smirked again, his eyes lit up, "It wouldn't stop croaking, but other than that, it seemed pretty normal..."

"That…would be the Witch."

She stared at him again.

"Ah, perhaps…you should…come in. I can…explain…better."

Hikari's eyebrows shot up into her hairline but she agreed nonetheless, smiling lightly at him as he opened the door fully to allow her into his home.

Her first impression was startlingly of the sheer amount of _book_s that filled the room; she had heard that bachelors were supposed to be messy, but there weren't clothes strewn across the floor or papers crammed into every corner or food containers lying about—there were just books stacked in nearly every open space of the room.

The furthest corner was filled with a desk, highlighted by the shelves above it that held a few books and some equipment of some sort. To the right was a bookshelf, crammed top to bottom with textbooks, novels, and a few journals, and to top it off, in the center of the room sat a rounded table where a polished crystal ball sat upon a mount. Beneath the table were more books, a few sat upon his desk, some more scattered along the stairs; it was like he had pressed _reverse_ on a vacuum that had just taken up an entire library and let it go in his house.

She had expected it to be dark, but he had candles lit on nearly every table and shelf, and off to the side where the staircase began and a door led off, there was a small lamp that was lighting the entire room. Wizard gave her a curious glance before heading to his desk, gathering a few papers there. He then turned to face her and his amusement remained.

"The Witch…attempted to cast a spell…to revive the Goddess…," He said quietly, and Hikari gasped, "But it…backfired. Instead, she…turned herself into…a frog."

"Oh no," Hikari groaned and ran her hand through her hair in worry, "Will she be alright? It'll wear off, won't it?"

Wizard seemed a bit taken back by her sudden response and gave her a strange look. "She requires a…potion, but I do not…have the ingredients."

"I can get them," she replied instantly, nodding her head, "Just tell me what you need."

Again, the man was startled by her instant reply, but gave her a quick nod nonetheless. "Good Cornmeal…Perfect Butter…Hibiscus Flower…"

"It sounds a bit like a recipe."

"Ah, it is a…potion, young farmer."

She laughed. "Sure, sure. As long as I'm not doing your grocery shopping."

The smile that tilted his lips made her stop laughing to stare for a moment, caught up in the way his eyes watched her with such hesitancy, such caution. When the smile on his mouth disappeared to question what was wrong, she shook her head and smiled again. "I can get that, but…it'll probably take me some time…" She pursued her lips in thought, toying with her hair again. "Maybe if I ask Renee for the butter…"

Wizard nodded at her and replaced the papers on his desk. He then watched her with expectant eyes as she wandered a bit, hesitantly taking a look at the textbooks lined on his shelves. When the balcony that was overhead his main room caught her eye, he looked at her in interest.

A large telescope was pointed into the sky through a massive skylight, angled just high enough to directly gaze at the moon. At least, that's what it appeared to be. Hikari nodded in her head, almost in approval, before Wizard spoke.

"My telescope…"

"It's very different," she murmured, and her eyes caught on the large dials to the side. They looked quite complicated, with spinning gears and nails that she could never have figured out on her own. Something clicked inside her head, though, and she instantly turned back to the Wizard, smiling. "I apologize…but is there any way I could ask a favor of you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"I have a telescope of my own," she said, "but it was broken in my move here. Perhaps you could take a look at it? I don't know how to fix it, and Dale said that's not really his area of expertise…"

He tilted his head and a few strays of his hair fell down, brushing along the tanned skin of his face. His eyes glistened in the candlelight, and his answer was short and sweet.

"If it…pleases you…"

Hikari looked up in surprise and her face lit up. "A-are you sure?" Her eyes drifted to the skylight, glancing high up into the sky to see the tips of the stars visible through the window. "I've missed being able to see the stars clearly."

Wizard nodded, and Hikari took that as her dismissal. She gave him a brief wave. "Thank you," she said, and he just nodded once more, his face caught in thought, "See you soon then, with my telescope?"

He then looked to her, his eyes dark and stormy; his expression was odd then, but a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth and made hers do the same.

"If it…pleases you."


	3. Hunger

_A/N: For anyone who was wondering, I actually do have this entire story planned out, start to finish! :) It's just the matter of writing it all that takes me some time, ahah. These first few chapters are always the hardest because they're the setting-setters, but after around chapter 3, things really start to get better...At least, I think so._

_Anyways, I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!_

* * *

_Chapter 2_

_Hikari's POV_

* * *

_If anything, Hikari was tired. _

Hikari wobbled to the left and regained her balance at the last moment, shifting to catch herself on the side of the Tailor's building. She placed a hand to her head, trying to clear it and regain what energy could be found within her weak body, but there wasn't much. The girl hadn't eaten since yesterday morning—money was becoming scarce, and considering she had animals to take care of and bills to pay…There just hadn't been enough in the budget for breakfast, or lunch for that matter.

When she was well enough to stand up straight, for the most part, Hikari yawned and bit at her lip. Ocarina Inn was just around the corner and the smell of food hit her nose as a _very _strong sensation. She nearly groaned, her stomach protesting as she placed her hand over it weakly and tried to keep upright. Finn was visiting the Goddess today, at Hikari's request; she didn't want him to see her like this.

"Hikari?" A voice said, and she quickly stood up straight, only to regret it due to the pang of hunger that shot through her stomach once more. "Hey, is that you?"

Luna poked her head around the corner to find Hikari smiling as brightly as she could manage. The farmer was still sickly pale, though, and with the large bags under her eyes and the hand at her stomach, Luna knew something was up.

"Did you skip a meal again, Hikari?"

"Ah," Hikari sighed in defeat, "Just breakfast…and dinner last night. The profit from the few tomatoes I shipped yesterday should be in any day now, but until then…"

"Goddess, will you never learn? Doctor Jin would be all over you right now about personal health and hygiene if he knew about this. C'mon, let's go eat."

Hikari shuffled uncomfortably. "I—I can't afford a meal, Luna."

The look that appeared on the girl's face was priceless; her eyes dropped wide and her mouth formed a large 'o', stretching to show her shock. It was then, she decided, that though she usually wasn't generous or helpful, there must be a first for everything.

"Then it's on me," she insisted, and Hikari instantly began to shake her head in refusal. "Honestly. It's payback for all of those seashells you bring Candace and I for our shop."

"If you insist," Hikari said, quietly, after a few moments of silence, and her stomach growled loudly. Luna's face grew grim again and she motioned for the farmer to follow. She then took off towards the Inn, her shoes making satisfying clicks against the pavement as she went. Hikari followed reluctantly.

When they both entered the Inn, Colleen looked up from her place at the counter to smile at the two girls coming in through the door. "Hello, and welcome to the Ocarina Inn!"

Luna nodded at her and continued on to a booth in the back, where, much to Hikari's surprise, sat Candace, her face nosed into an old book and a steaming cup of tea in front of her. Luna took her seat next to Candace and Hikari sat across from them, twirling her hair and smiling at the prospect of a meal.

"Sorry I didn't warn you," Luna said, teasingly, and pointed to her sister, "Candace and I had already planned to meet for lunch since Yolanda finally put Chase on fulltime."

Hikari raised an eyebrow, but too late, as another girl, one in quite a frilly dress and plaited hair, approached their table. Maya gave them a warm smile and giggled at Hikari's expression.

"Hey, guys!" She said, and her face was radiant, like she had seen the best thing in the world, "Welcome to the Inn! Can I get you some drinks or something?"

Luna and Hikari put in orders—tea and coffee, respectively—and the farmer turned back to hear what her friend had been saying.

"Chase has been an apprentice here for some time," Luna explained, toying with a salt shaker before pursuing her lips, "He's supposedly a really talented chef, but for some reason, Yolanda didn't want him on her staff just yet. She accepted yesterday, though, so I'm assuming half the town is going to show up today to see how he compares."

Hikari nodded when Maya returned with her coffee and placed it down in front of her. Immediately, Hikari had her hands wrapped around it, her lips pressed to the mug in comfort. She sighed in relief at the smell and taste of the liquid at her mouth. Luna nearly rolled her eyes. "I think you've got a problem, Hikari," she said, and she laughed at the expression that Hikari's face took on, "I mean, really? Coffee at one in the afternoon?"

"Of course," Hikari answered, and it seemed as though there was more life in her voice, "Coffee keeps me going when I can't."

They were quiet for a moment after that, until Luna flicked at Candace's book, thumping it with her forefinger before scowling. "Candace, you could at least try and socialize for a bit."

Candace looked up to give Hikari a brief smile and a wave, but returned to her book soon after.

That wasn't what caught Hikari's attention, though; they were seated next to a window, and through the window, Hikari could see a slight buzz in the air, something fluttering past the window in a flurry…

Finn was waving his arms at her through the window, and suddenly, Hikari remembered that she was the only one who could see him. His face was drawn up in terror and he was fluttering without control, zipping back and forth in the most effortful attempt he could give to get the girl's attention.

Hikari nearly shot out of her seat then and there, but the look on Luna's face stopped her, and she instantly was biting at her lip again, her face trying to pass as nonchalant. The seamstress was talking about something that Luke had said to her the other day, and Hikari couldn't care less than she did at that moment; she usually tried to lend an ear to Luna's gossip, but if Finn was here instead of with the Goddess…

"Ah, pardon me, Luna, but I think I'm going to get some fresh air really fast."Hikari jumped up from the table, her hair swinging around her face, only to find herself colliding into someone else in her hurry.

She felt the food on her chest before she saw it, though she knew it was hot and very sticky. Hikari's face instantly burned red and, in an attempt to retain just a bit of her dignity, she quickly rose to her feet in a flurry of arms and legs. Who she saw in return, however, made her eyes widen.

Hikari felt as though she had seen him before; he was tall and lean, with peach-blonde hair and startling violet eyes. Then again, she probably would have remembered him if she had met such a handsome man, despite her memory. However, the scowl upon his face made her think otherwise.

"Watch it," he said, lowly, and it was more of a snarl than a request, "I don't have all day."

She instinctively took a step back at the words from his mouth, but his face was drawing her in, almost like…

Hikari stopped herself cold in the thought.

Almost like the Wizard had.

There was something similar in their eyes, like caution, hesitancy that made her want to ask them what had happened to make them so..._careful._ The Wizard, however, had gentle eyes, like the swells of the stars, burning with curiosity, while this man…his eyes burned like they were stars that had gone super nova and dissipated into a dark and endless black, disappearing into the Milky Way as starlight and dust.

Hikari stuttered when she tried to reply. When she looked down, she noticed the splat of mushroom rice across her shirt, the one piece of clothing that wasn't utterly destroyed by her farmwork. It was surely destroyed now, though, and by the looks of it, so was her chance of ever making it out of the building with any of her dignity in tact.

The man's glare made her skin run cold, though his face made her blood pulse at her neck. She stumbled past him, murmuring apologies as she went, and disappeared out onto the street, but to the dismay of Luna. Finn was instantly at her side, pulling her hair and shouting into her ear.

"Hikari! Guess what?"

Her face turned down instantly.

So Finn wasn't masked with terror; no, his expression had been _excitement_, his eyes glowing in pride. He landed squarely on her shoulder to knock his head into her jawline. "I found a Hibiscus Flower! Isn't that weird? The Goddess said she couldn't reach the island with her powers, so I went over to the Bar—"

Hikari inwardly groaned. She knew exactly whose flower that was.

"Finn, that's Selena's flower."

He stopped chattering to look at her confusedly. "Flowers don't belong to humans, silly," he then replied, his chatter restarting after the silliest statement he had ever heard. "All the flowers belong to the Goddess, and she has claim over them as long as they sprout and grow. I thought even mortals would know _that_…"

She shook her head at him, and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Finn. We can just go get our own flower. You should return that flower to Selena right away so she doesn't miss it."

"But we need it to save the Godde—"

"Yes, we do, but we also don't need to steal anything in the process, even if the flowers _do_ belong to the Goddess. Take it back to Selena and I'll take you to Toucan Island just as soon as I can afford it, alright?"

Finn sighed. "Alright."

Hikari looked to the door of the Inn before shaking her head, her spirits falling. There wasn't a single chance she was going back in there, not after running straight into a man carrying all that food and then leaving him to clean up the mess…She shuddered and then sighed before heading off towards her farm, its silhouette a dark shadow over the hills.

* * *

Hikari figured she was just going to starve to death. It felt that way, after she returned to her farm and finished up her chores with a grumbling stomach and a headache. Her calf, Orchid, mooed in protest at being fed just the slightest bit of hay, but Hikari could give her no more.

"I'm sorry," she said, lightly, and brushed the dirt from her animal's coat, "At least you got to graze today. That should be enough to keep you healthy."

Her crops were growing now, surprisingly, but were far behind schedule; the small tomato plants were sprouting ever higher, and though they weren't a perfect shade of green—more of a wilted yellow—Hikari felt pride swell in her chest for her accomplishment. Or perhaps that was just the hunger that clawed in her belly; it was hard to tell.

When she thought back on earlier in the day, she shuddered, not only because she still smelled like mushroom rice, even when she changed into a different shirt, but because she could hardly believe that she had run out on her friends and a free meal all because she had run into some snobby waiter with good hair.

A fresh wave of pangs shot through her body and she sighed again, laying her watering can to the side of her field and taking a seat on her porch steps. The sun was falling in the sky, dipping low past the clouds to melt into different shades of orange, yellow, and pink. Dusk was always her favorite time of the day, for she could still see the sun in the sky, but also the moon and the stars, faintly glistening in the background, waiting their turn to take the stage.

Placing her head in her hands, Hikari frowned and held herself close, trying to lock out the world around her. Farming was much harder than she had anticipated, and perhaps, it hadn't been such a great idea after all. But then, looking out over her farm with the sprouting tomatoes and the faint mooing of her cow from the barn, and even the setting sun on the horizon, Hikari decided that maybe it was worth it after all.

She was so lost in her own train of thoughts that she jumped at the sound of footsteps—_close_ footsteps, nonetheless, and her mouth dropped open at the sight of the man from the Inn trudging over the hill, his arms wrapped around something. The frown on his face remained, but it was more distant and less malicious than it had been before. Something about it was careful, and deep…

He approached her and she scrambled once more from the ground, doing a slight bow before looking to his face. He watched her with more emotion than he had before, though he still seemed to be emotionless. How odd. "Luna sent me," he said, and he held out the dish in his arms, "to apologize. I…didn't know you were the new farmer." The man scratched behind his head sheepishly, switching the dish to his left hand, and the tip of his mouth turned up just a bit, enough to seem like a practiced smile, "You're the one who restarted the fires, so I guess I owe you one. The name's Chase."

Hikari's eyebrows shot up, though she should have expected it. So she _had_ run straight into the new chef. Wonderful.

"I-I'm Hikari," she replied, and her smile seemed slightly off. She felt a bit odd, not like she wanted to run, but as though she was out of place, as if this was _wrong_. "I'm terribly sorry for running off like that after making such a mess, it's just, I wasn't sure how to—"

He held up his free hand to her to silence her. "It doesn't matter now," he said shortly as he held out the dish, "Luna sent this for you. Something about not having lunch?"

"Ah," Her face decorated with a flush of pink and she looked to the ground as she accepted the food, "I…I haven't gotten my payment for my crops yet, so money is a bit…scarce."

Chase's eyes widened but he didn't say anything. He merely bid her a curt farewell and disappeared over the dirt path, walking briskly towards Flute Fields. Hikari felt the warm food in her hands and smiled to herself, already enjoying the smell that hit her nose. She wished she had been able to thank him properly, but perhaps another day.

Hikari entered her house with a massive grin upon her face.

Maybe there was hope after all.

* * *

After she was filled to the brim with mushroom rice and warm milk, thanks to her cow who had finally given enough milk to consume, Hikari was in a considerably better mood. Finn whirled around her head—after having his fair share of the meal—as she put the leftovers into her small fridge, already awaiting her meal for the morning.

That was when she spotted her telescope, the rim battered and broken and the knob twisted, in a box by the fridge, hidden down where she thought she couldn't see it. Carefully, Hikari reached inside and winced when the telescope made a loud squeak. It was truly beat up, and it being very old before the move did not help its condition.

A smile came to her face.

Hadn't Wizard said he could fix it just a few days ago? Then a visit was definitely in order, as autumn was just around the corner, and then winter, when the stars are the clearest and the sky is bright. Bidding farewell to Finn, Hikari hurriedly fled from her home, the telescope wrapped in a spare shirt, and headed towards Harmonica Town, her pleasant mood remaining.

This time she knocked on the wizard's door with a bit less hesitation than the last time.

Almost.

"…Hikari?"

The wizard was dressed in the same clothing from before; a long, black t-shirt and a purple overcoat, though his hair was considerably more ruffled and his eyes were much darker. He lifted an eyebrow at her, and she smiled, before revealing the telescope in her arms.

His eyes clicked as though he remembered something and he opened the door wider to reveal his home once again. It was just the same as last time—though perhaps even more books had appeared in her absence? It was strange; they just seemed to be multiplying in every corner of the room.

Hikari watched the wizard move about his house, searching for a few things that he found in odd places—such as a screwdriver beneath the bookshelf or the bolt wedged into a book pile—and a feeling like gold spread into her chest, causing her to flush.

She realized that she watched him with the same appraising eye as she did her crops, checking to be sure he was alright—he was almost seemingly too perfect to be real, with shaggy hair that had a small braid to the side and star-like eyes that calculated in curiosity. Yet, if anyone had the right to be curious, it was Hikari. The Wizard always smelled of coffee beans and crisp book pages, if one could smell that way. She liked it, in a way. It made him different, and familiar, and most certainly more, ah, appealing to Hikari, though she only flushed darker when she thought so.

The girl approached his crystal ball table, where the ball had been moved to his desk, and placed her telescope there, taking the shirt wrapped around it and stuffing it into her rucksack. She then hesitantly dropped the pack to the ground, waiting to see if the man minded, but he appeared to not have noticed; Wizard stood on the other side, his face turned down in concentration, and poked at a few places in the telescope before his eyes clouded. A slight smile appeared on his face.

It sent Hikari's heart thumping.

"You have…a very old…model, Hikari," he told her, and his face was still lit up, almost in a nostalgic sort of way, "…Though these were…the best." Wizard pressed his finger to a knob that Hikari hadn't even known was there and twisted it, revealing the problem. The sound was similar to grinding ice in a blender, making a horrid squealing noise. He quickly let go, and the knob rewound itself to its previous position. "What is your…interest in it?"

"It was my mother's," she said quietly, and the memories of her mother flooded her thoughts. The memory of her mother first showing her the telescope, and the one where they had stargazed an entire night, from dusk to dawn, and even the one where her mother had gifted it to her, as a present, for her fifth birthday. "She was very interested in the stars and this was her first telescope. She had almost a..." Hikari paused to think of a word that would fit the description of her mother; "A _hunger_ to search the stars and she did so nearly every night."

Wizard was silent for a moment, and Hikari looked up to see if he had left, only to find that his eyes were on her, searching her face. He appeared as though he trying to solve a riddle, and didn't look away when she caught him staring at her. She turned away first, her cheeks flushed, but his eyes remained on her.

"Do you think you can fix it?"

"Yes…My master once had one…somewhat similar to this." Wizard drew his gaze away from her to look back at the telescope. His hands went to surround the cracked lens, and as soon as his eyes were shut, a purple-like fog seemed to seep from his fingers. Hikari watched, shocked, as the fog spread over her telescope, engulfing it in the magical purple and hiding it from her view. She looked to Wizard, but his eyes were shut tightly and his mouth moved at a fast pace, too fast for her to hear. The nail and the screwdriver lying on the table moved into the mix, spinning and twirling alongside the fog. In an instant, he was done and his eyes snapped open, only to reveal his golden one that was lit up in the prospect of magic. Wizard released the telescope, smiling, and gestured for her to look.

Hikari bent down to glance at it, expecting the scratches and cracks that had been there before, but to her surprise and utter delight, there was nothing, almost as if it was brand new. It was lovely, shining and glistening in a way that Hikari had never known it could do. She touched it with careful fingers, and a smile instantly lit up her face. When she turned back to tell the wizard thank you, he had disappeared from sight, making the girl look around in confusion.

As she was rejoicing at the sight of her telescope, Wizard reentered the room, this time with two mugs in his hand, steaming in the humid air of summer. When he held one out to Hikari, she accepted it gratefully, her eyes bright and slightly surprised. Being with Wizard was so easy, like breathing—he was quiet and gentle and pleasant - it seemed as though she had known him forever, though it had been a matter of an hour or so.

"I am…a wizard," he said, and his face grew slightly red, "but even…wizards have manners."

She laughed, and took a sip of the coffee in her hands, her face relighting with color. "Thank you. Coffee is _exactly_ what I needed."

"Mhmm." The wizard took a sip from his own mug before glancing to the skylight above them, his own eyes brightened by glancing at the starlight that fell into his home through the slanted window in the ceiling. Hikari smiled as he looked to her, face bright, and smiled. "I agree."

* * *

_end-_

_So I may or may not be super excited to write the next chapter...finally a different POV than Hikari! Ah, I'm so excited for this story to finally pick up...The plotline just makes me super excited to get started! Thus, me updating three times in two days...whoops. _

_Oh! And side note, when I'm referring to the wizard, it's very grammatically complicated, aha! "_The wizard_" is correct when I'm referring to him as his profession, if that's what you want to call it. "_Wizard_", capitalized and without a "the" means he's being referred to by his name, since he goes by Wizard throughout the story. _

_Thanks and hope to hear from you all soon! _


	4. A Penny For Your Thoughts

_A/N: Okay, so fanfiction was literally down for like, three days, and it wouldn't let me log in...at all. I was totally freaked! But it did let me read, and I found some stuff that really got me motivated to write! This chapter is short and quick, but I'm already halfway through the next one and am really excited to share it with you, ahah! Enjoy!_

* * *

_Chapter 3_

_Wizard's POV_

* * *

_It was tiring, sometimes. _

Living as a wizard did have its drawbacks, many of which included living for such an extended amount of time. The others mainly had to do with the friends that were made along the way, for there is no capable way of keeping them on earth forever, to stay until the earth itself has rotted away and the stars have taken it in a flash of light in dark.

Wizard believed that the Goddess cared for him. He believed that, considering he knew her personally, maybe she would spare him the heartache of a long life, that she would give him some sort of happiness and freedom. Instead, she gave him lone nights and a coffee addiction, which, in retrospect, weren't all that bad. He did enjoy stargazing at night, where it was quiet and undisturbed by the movements of the mortals, though Wizard hardly minded the humans.

He interacted with them more than the Goddess or the Witch did, for he lived directly in the middle of their town and there wasn't much he could do to change it. Sure, they had chosen to build their small town around his master's home, but it wasn't quite his fault; he _did_ urge them on while his master and the Witch refused, but that was beyond the point. He didn't mind them at all.

Some were even kind, with smiles and warm hearts and pleasant voices. Colleen in town, for example, made the Wizard much happier than she should have—she was kind to him when others watched with fear, she sold him coffee though her daughter had once protested against it. Now, her daughter was quite used to the man who bought coffee from their establishment, and would even wave or say hello when he passed.

So, humans weren't that bad.

From his trips to the Inn, Wizard often heard many things. Weather predictions, social gossiping, and more often than not, who was supposedly in some sort of scandalous affair with who. It wasn't until most recently, though, that the talk of the town was the new farmer. He could never catch her name for no one said it; she was just mentioned as the new farmer in town that was supposedly bringing prosperity back to Harmonica Town. Wizard doubted it—he knew the truth; he knew that the Goddess tree was dying and that, despite a mortals best efforts, it could not be stopped. But he listened for the fun of it, lingering in the dining room of the Inn to catch what gossip he could of the town and its people.

Colleen's daughter was speaking animatedly to another woman, one with a blonde ponytail and cowboy boots, about the newest addition to the town. Wizard overheard much about her—apparently she was pretty, but not threatening enough to 'scare away the boys', which puzzled the Wizard to an extent. She was hardworking but poor, and often went without certain things to keep others happy.

When Wizard walked past to leave, he tried not to hear the sudden remarks about his clothing that the girls instantly started in on, remarking that though he was handsome, his clothes could use a 'makeover'. Female humans were oddly different, that was for sure.

* * *

When Wizard had met Hikari, she wasn't at all what he had expected. He had expected a short, blonde girl with a wide smile and a strong attitude, but instead, had found the real-Hikari, who was tall and gangly, with careful eyes and cropped hair that tickled around the edge of her neck. Her voice was soft, quiet—unhearable if someone tried to speak over her. She walked ungracefully, and her steps were rigid, but she was different, and different was nice.

As soon as Hikari asked about the Witch, Wizard no longer doubted that she was the one restoring the land. If she was ringing the bells, there was no doubt that she was destined to save the Harvest Goddess and return Castanet to its original glory. It puzzled him, though, how a girl so fragile and small was running a farm and ringing the bells of the Goddess. Hikari was delicate; when she entered his home, he realized it. The way that her eyes swept the room in a trance, taking in every detail that there was to see and evaluating it to her standards—she was certainly observant. The few minutes she was in his home, he realized off things about her; the way she would brush her hair out of her face, the way she spoke fluently and efficiently and softly, and the way she bit at her lip if she was just the slightest bit uncertain. She was such a strange human, and Wizard couldn't quite place why he felt as though he had known her for ages.

That was why he agreed to fix her telescope—that, and the way she was brushing her hair away from her eyes, the way she was smiling—and though he knew he shouldn't have been, he was excited to interact with her once more. She was different and he liked it.

Why she came to him, he didn't know; perhaps a friend had pointed her in his direction? Maybe she just wanted a fortune, but decided against it?

Overall, that was where it was all left off, and now she stood, a few feet away in his home once more with a smile at her lips and a twinkle to her hazel eyes. Her telescope had surprised him, too—he figured there wasn't much about her that wouldn't surprise him at this point—and he had been happy to fix it, to help her regain the light in her eyes. She was overjoyed when she saw it, and now, with a coffee mug pressed to her lips and a content look upon her face, the wizard perceived that she was very similar to him, besides the everlasting immortal part.

Wizard looked at her once more, briefly, before moving to head up the stairs. He was…unsure in social customs; should he invite her to his observatory? He certainly wanted to.

It seemed that he didn't have a choice. She followed behind him with timid steps, and by the time they had reached the top, she was near to right behind him. He walked to the edge of the room as the girl searched it in awe, her face stretched in wonder. The room itself had the telescope that was visible from the bottom floor poking through the ceiling, yet nearly the entire ceiling here was scatted with windows of all sorts, allowing anyone standing in the room to see the stars from nearly every angle. The back wall wasn't much of a wall as it was a window—it appeared to be one-way glass, tinted slightly but still clear, and it was easy to look out over the stars and the see the Church courtyard, the moon like a spotlight on the hardened cobblestone.

Wizard nodded his head, almost in pride, and watched as the girl stepped towards the back wall in wonder. She pressed her free hand to it, leaving slight fingerprints against the glass, and nearly laughed at herself for jumping back at her reflection.

"Why so many windows?"

Hikari's question was silly and unexpected, but then again, everything about her was that way.

"It is…easier to see the…stars this way."

"Ah, I guess I should have known," Hikari giggled lightly and then moved so she could sit in front of his telescope, the massive one that was at least the size of her cow and twice as wide. She leant her back against it, bringing her knees to her chest and resting her coffee mug on her knee so she could look up at the stars. Wizard watched the way she sat—holding her knees to herself as though she was holding herself together, like she would otherwise break into pieces. Tentatively, he took a seat beside her, dropping to the ground unceremoniously with a thud. He was far enough that his arm didn't brush hers, but close enough to notice the smell of strawberry and cream that came from her, almost intoxicatingly so.

Wizard looked up into the sky as she was; examining what he could with the bare eye before looking back to Hikari, whom he noticed was now looking at him. She smiled.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

"I was…merely thinking…of the stars," he said, but he kept his gaze on her. This seemed to make her uncomfortable or embarrassed—which, the wizard couldn't be sure—and she flushed a light pink, her skin contrasted with the dark of her hair and the rosy color of her blush. "They…never cease…to surprise me."

At least he was speaking a bit of the truth. The stars hadn't been on his thoughts as much as she was.

She was quiet for a moment, and when she looked back to him from the stars, her face was tentative, like she was scared, and she was biting at her lip in hesitation. Wizard watched her from the corner of his eye.

Finally, she worked up enough nerve to ask him, though her voice shook slightly. "Wizard, why are your words so spaced when you speak?"

"I am…" He looked amused for a moment as he took a sip of his cooling coffee, his mouth curling upwards in the corners, "I am out of…practice."

"You mean—"

"I do not…speak with others…very often."

Hikari stared for a moment before quickly replacing her gaze to the stars. Wizard noticed that they were bright tonight, and stood out in the murky blackness of the night sky, shining like candles in the dark. He could easily pick out his favorites and just make out the shapes of the constellations that his master had taught him so long ago. Hikari was staring intently at the sky, as well, and nearly jumped when he spoke.

"A…penny…for your…thoughts?"

Hikari laughed at his uncertain voice, shy and timid, but real curiosity hidden in its undertone. "Just thinking of the stars," she said, and he laughed like she had, yet his own laugh so different from hers. Quieter, shyer, more refined—more of a chuckle than a real laugh. "My mother taught me many of them, but it was a long time ago and I can't remember them all." Hikari put her mug down onto the ground beside her and curled herself tighter into a ball. The wizard took notice that once again, it appeared that she was holding herself together. "I do remember my favorites, though," she added.

"Which…would be?"

She looked at him in surprise before letting one of her arms loose to point at a star that Wizard recognized instantly. "Mintaka. It's usually not so easy to see during the summer, but assuming your house is on elevated ground…"

He nodded.

"And your favorite star?"

"_Saiph,"_ He rolled the word, able to recreate its Arabic descent, and smiled, "Very close…to Mintaka, yet…still very far apart." She seemed to be impressed by his ability to recreate the word's correct sounding judging by her widened eyes.

Hikari gave a brief nod, telling the man that she recognized it. "Orion's Belt _has_ always been my favorite constellation," she commented quietly, sipping her chilled coffee, and sighed. "It was the first constellation my mother ever showed me, I guess."

"I've never…" Wizard started, but couldn't stop as Hikari glanced over to see him staring, her face going red once more. She was so odd—why was his looking causing her to flush? It was so easy to cause her cheeks to go red; just one look and she was as red as a rose. "I've never met…someone who loves…the stars as much as…I do." He struggled with the longer sentence, pausing to catch his breath.

Her face flushed even darker but she smiled at him.

"Neither have I."

And for a moment, they sat, with empty coffee mugs at their feet, and watched the stars in silence.

* * *

_Okay, so I swear, I do have this entire story planned out and literally cANNOT WAIT TO GET TO THE GOOD STUFF. Like ahhhh, I'm so ready for them to be in love already, ahah. I love a good romance fic just as much as the next girl...but honestly, I hate it when fics go too fast and suddenly the characters are in love and its like, "Wait, didn't she just introduce herself and now you're kissing?" So, I'm trying desperately to space it out and put in some filler and plotting and characterization before any kissing comes along...hahah._

_Thanks so much for reading, especially to Mnema for your reviews! I (literally) jumped with joy when I saw them, so thank you, thank you, thank you!_

_-tolkienlover_


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